Centre Activities (CENS)

APPSNO 2024: Defining the State of Security in Uncertain Conditions: Lessons and Responses

APPSNO 2024: Defining the State of Security in Uncertain Conditions: Lessons and Responses

Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers 2017: Innovation and National Security

APPSNO 2017: Innovation and National Security

The 11th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO) was held from 3 to 7 April 2017 in Singapore.

The theme of the programme was Innovation and National Security. Speakers from a wide range of countries such as Australia, Czech Republic, Latvia, The Netherlands, Philippines, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States, shared their experience on the following topics:

1. Innovation and Technology – cyber threats to smart cities, machine learning, and the future of big data in cybersecurity.
2. Resilience in the Post-Truth Era – the divisive impact of fake news, influence operations and information warfare, and new ways of responding.
3. Innovation in Terrorism and Counter-terrorism – community led interventions, tools for assessing violent extremeism.
4. Innovation and Strategic Communication – new methods for internal and external communications in crises, changes in social media and communication landscape.
5.  Case Studies – artificial intelligence, the role of hackers in national security.

Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers 2016: National Security Revisited

National security is today a complex domain, encompassing matters ranging from the challenges of homeland security management to designing coping strategies for a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional threats. National security, especially in a rapidly changing and complex environment, remains a key concern for countries worldwide.

With the aim of promoting a multi-agency and networked government approach as an important response to today’s complex and uncertain security milieu, the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), a research unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS) with the support of the National Security Coordination Secretariat (NSCS), part of Singapore’s Prime Minister’s Office, organised the 9th Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO). APPSNO is targeted at senior government officials from the Asia-Pacific and beyond with responsibilities for national security matters. It is hoped that APPSNO will become an important tool for promoting the analytical frameworks, mindsets and skills needed for effective national security management.

APPSNO is driven by two primary objectives:

1. Enhance exposure to global best practices in national security
Participants will be given the opportunity to learn about the trends and global best practices in national security issues through lectures and informal discussions. Over the years, prominent speakers have been invited to speak on topics related to national risk assessment and management, strategic and crisis communication, cyber security, and countering violent extremism and radicalisation. The small-group interactive discussion format enables participants to share ideas, anecdotes and experiences that will be of broad professional interest.

2. Facilitate an international network of national security experts and practitioners
APPSNO will provide the platform for participants to network with global national security experts as well as develop stronger relationships with their regional counterparts. Interaction will be facilitated through field visits, educational and study tours and social activities.

1-3 June 2015

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security at RSIS, participated in the 29^th Asia Pacific Roundtable, which was organised by ISIS Malaysia/ASEAN ISIS and held in Kuala Lumpur in June 2015. She took part in the plenary session debate on “Cyber Conflict is simply a question of when, not if” having to oppose the motion. The session featured two panelists debating each side of the motion that cyber conflict is inevitable.

21-24 April 2015

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in Cyber Intelligence Asia which was held in Manila in April 2015. She addressed the conference on “Regional Cybersecurity: Key policy developments in Southeast Asia & the wider Asia Pacific”. She outlined some of the more significant policy developments relating to cybersecurity in the region as well as several challenges and opportunities including expected future developments on the horizon.

16-17 April 2015

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the Global Conference on Cyber Space 2015 (GCCS 2015) held in The Hague in April 2015. Hosted by the Netherlands, representatives from government, private sector and civil society gathered to promote practical cooperation in cyberspace, to enhance cyber capacity building, and to discuss norms for responsible behaviour in cyberspace. This high-level conference followed three preceding Global Conferences on Cyber Space (in London, Budapest and Seoul).

Caitríona co-organised the parallel session “Civil-Military Relations in Cyberspace” with Sergei Boeke, Research Fellow, Leiden University Counter-terrorism Centre. This parallel session was supported by the Netherlands Ministry of Defense. Caitríona and Sergei introduced the session and presented a position paper on “Civil-Military Relations and International Military Cooperation in Cyberspace”, which was prepared for GCCS 2015 and discussed by the panelists. The discussion was moderated by Ian Wallace, New America, and the panelists included Robert Butler, former U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Cyber Policy, Latha Reddy, former deputy national security advisor India, Choi-Sung-joo, Ambassador for International Security Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs South Korea, Colonel José Ricardo Souza Camelo, Chief of the Doctrine, Mobilization, and Innovation Division of CDCiber of the Brazilian Ministry of Defense, Ambassador Sorin Ducaru, Assistant Secretary General Emerging Security Challenges at NATO, and Isabelle Valentini, Head of Cyber Policy at the Ministry of Defense Staff France.

10 March 2015

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the INTERPOL IGCI Cyber Research Agenda Workshop held in Singapore in March 2015. This workshop aimed to establish priorities for new research projects and training, and ensure that IGCI activities reflect the demands and challenges of law enforcement agencies of member countries. It was attended by subject matter experts to discuss the research agenda for law enforcement.

11 February 2015

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the “Asia Pacific Perspectives on the Hague Global Conference on Cyberspace Workshop” in Kuala Lumpur in February 2015. The ASPI International Cyber Policy Centre in partnership with the Institute of Strategic & International Studies Malaysia organised this workshop. The aim of the workshop was to gather the expertise of a cross-section of Asia Pacific cyber experts to inform the Global Conference on Cyber Space (GCCS 2015) process. The analysis and insights developed during the workshop formed the basis of a policy briefing document composed of regionally focused opinions and ideas on the key themes of GCCS 2015. This workshop was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.

2 February 2015

CENS Research Fellow, Caitríona Heinl, participated in the State Street Vision Seminar: Gain an Edge on Risk in Asia Pacific “Evolution of Operational Risk Leaders in Today’s Business Environment” held in Singapore in February 2015. Caitríona discussed general cybersecurity issues in the seminar’s first panel discussion.

28 Nov 2014

Research Fellow, Caitríona Heinl, Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), participated in the RSIS Workshop on “New Trends in Chinese Foreign Policy” in November 2014. She chaired a session on China’s New Asian Regional Policy and addressed the final panel on China and Cybersecurity Issues. This panel evaluated the challenges confronting Chinese leaders in view of their country’s growing international footprint in global governance as Beijing grows into its role as an economic powerhouse and a significant military power (discussant: Dr. Zhou Qi, CASS China). The session covered the increasing significance of ICT and cybersecurity on China’s domestic political stability, economic development and its foreign relations.

20-22 Nov 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the NADI Workshop on Cyber Security: Emerging Challenges and Responses in November 2013. She was invited to address the delegates from the Track II Network of ASEAN Defence and Security Institutions (NADI) on cybersecurity challenges at the ASEAN level and possible responses.

The workshop discussed ASEAN member states’ perspectives on cybersecurity challenges and agreed that greater cooperation was needed in order to safeguard the cybersecurity infrastructure of the region. The militaries of the ASEAN countries could play an important role as part of the national efforts to combat cybersecurity challenges and threats, and to ensure their effectiveness in protecting national security. The ADMM track could also, within the framework of the ADMM-Plus, seek the cooperation of the Plus counties to share their experiences with ASEAN countries and assist them in developing human capacities and explore ways to combat cybersecurity threats.

18-19 Nov 2014

Research Fellow, Caitríona Heinl, co-organised a closed-door roundtable in Singapore on “Civil-Military Relations in Cyberspace” with Leiden University Centre for Terrorism and Counterterrorism (CTC).

Experts represented a broad spectrum of global stakeholders including national representatives from defence ministries or security-related departments and think-tanks engaged in the analysis of cyber-related matters. The roundtable focused on three key themes, namely 1) The role of the military in cyberspace; 2) The role of the military in national incident and crisis response; and 3) International Military Cooperation. The purpose of this roundtable was to contribute to the preparatory work for the Global Conference on Cyberspace (GCCS 2015) to be held in The Hague in April 2015.

10 Nov 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the RSIS Military Transformations Programme workshop on “The Global Arms Industry in 2030 (and Beyond)”. The workshop brought together a diverse collection of expert analysts from Asia, North America, Europe and Australia to address the potential effects of various macro-economic and geopolitical drivers affecting the global arms industry out to 2030 and beyond, and to also explore how national defence industrial bases might – or might not – change over the course of the next 15 years or so. Caitríona addressed the first panel on the impact of cyber-based technologies as a new form of “armaments”.

21-23 Oct 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the ISMS Annual Conference on “Armed Forces for 2020 and Beyond”, which was organised by the Austrian National Defence Academy, Vienna. She addressed the Military Technology Working Group which focused on technology, strategy and legal issues.

21-22 Oct 2014

Deputy Head and Senior Fellow, Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS) Shashi Jayakumar, accompanied by Associate Research Fellow Joseph Franco participated in the 2nd UN Counter-Terrorism Center’s (UNCCT) International Conference which was held from 21-22 October 2014 in Brussels, Belgium. The 2nd UNCCT International Conference on Engaging Partners for Capacity Building followed up on its first 2013 iteration in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. For 2014, the Conference covered three thematic issue areas. First is the threat posed by foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs), as highlighted by the increased violence in the Syria-Iraq frontier, now controlled by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL). Second was the emerging best practices and policy gaps in countering violent extremism (CVE). Third theme centred on capacity-building and resource mobilisation issues faced by security sector stakeholders.

15-17 Oct 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, attended the “India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance (CYFY 2014) as a participant. This conference was organised by the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) in New Delhi and it focused on several key debates relating to cyber issues of global importance. These included 1) The contest over territory and jurisdiction; 2) Whether social media is disruptive or democratic; 3) Counterterrorism in cyberspace; 4) The global cyber market; 5) ICANN or ICAN’T?; 6) Deconstructing multistakeholderism; 7) Protecting critical information infrastructures; 8) Privacy; 9) Norms of cyberspace; and 10) Whether cyber conflict is inevitable.

25-29 Aug 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, addressed the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Process (ADMM) 2^nd Technical Workshop on Establishing a Direct Communication Link in the ADMM in Brunei Darussalam. She was invited to discuss cyber-related policy issues.

At the eighth ADMM in May 2014, the ASEAN Defence Ministers adopted a Concept Paper on Establishing a Direct Communications Link (hotline) in the ADMM. The goal of this initiative is to effectively manage and contain tensions, in the event of a possible military encounter, to foster de-escalation and to provide a channel for initial quick reaction and assistance in emergency situations. 

Jun 2014

Caitríona Heinl (Research Fellow) presented material on “Artificial (Intelligent) Agents and Active Cyber Defence: Policy Implications” at the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (NATO CCD COE) annual international conference on cyber conflict – CyCon 2014  ( http://ccdcoe.org/cycon/about.html ). She was also invited to participate in a panel moderated by Rain Ottis on “The Use of Active Cyber Defence: Concepts, Policy and Strategy Aspects” with Irving Lachow, David Dittrich, Robert Dewar, and Jason Rivera.

Experts from over 35 countries discussed the risks and benefits as well as the technical, strategic, and legal implications of applying active cyber defence over four days in Tallinn, Estonia.

25-26 Mar 2014

Caitríona Heinl, Research Fellow, CENS, participated in the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Track I Workshop on Cyber Confidence Building Measures in Kuala Lumpur Malaysia in March 2014. She was invited to discuss the importance of building linkages across ASEAN nations to increase regional cybersecurity and the importance of initiatives such as points of contact.

26-27 Nov 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna was invited by the Ministry of Justice Investigations Bureau (MJIB) of Taiwan to address the Taiwan International Symposium on Regional Security and Transnational Crime in Taipei City from Nov 26-27 2013. Before an audience of more than 200 senior practitioners and analysts from the Middle East and East Asia, he delivered a analysis of the evolution of violent Islamist terrorist networks in Indonesia and emphasized the need for diminishing the underlying conditions that give rise to terrorism – while fighting the networks themselves.

18-19 Nov 2013

Sulastri Osman spoke about the challenges to counterterrorism policing in light of increasing terrorist use of online and social media tools at the 3rd Meeting of the GCTF Southeast Asia Capacity-Building Working Group in Yogyakarta. She first pointed out the general context as to why such challenges exist in the first place and then highlighted relevant case studies from the Indonesian context. She subsequently suggested a number of possible effective responses to the challenges.

11-12 Nov 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna, Norman Vasu and Damien D. Cheong met with researchers from the BESA Centre for Strategic Studies at Bar-Ilan University in Tel Aviv for a two-day academic exchange. Hosted by BESA, the CENS team participated in a closed-door workshop at the Centre, delivered a public seminar at the University, and went on a special guided strategic tour of Jerusalem.

Nov 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna, Norman Vasu and Damien D. Cheong met with Professor Gabriel Ben-Dor and Dr Dan Schueftan from the National Security Studies Center at the School of Political Sciences at the University of Haifa. They discussed the topics of national security and social resilience during the research exchange and addressed diverse issues ranging from geopolitics to methodology and ways of measuring resilience.

3 Oct 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna, Sulastri Osman and Joseph Franco and Jennifer Yang Hui met Dr Clarke Jones and Associate Professor Grant Wardlaw at the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security in ANU at Canberra. Dr Jones and Associate Professor Wardlaw briefed CENS on prison radicalisation in the Philippines.

30 Sep 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna, Sulastri Osman and Joseph Franco and Jennifer Yang Hui met with researchers from GTReC at Monash University in Melbourne. In the day of meetings, the CENS team was briefed on GTReC’s approach to academic study and policy recommendation on countering violent extremism. The CENS team presented their research findings on religious fundamentalism in Southeast Asia, prison radicalisation in Indonesia and updates on the Zamboanga crisis.

21 Sep 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna was invited by Lord Alderdice, a Member of the UK House of Lords and a Senior Fellow of Harris Manchester College (HMC) at Oxford University to speak on “Intergroup Conflict and the Motivations for Taking up the Nuclear Option” at an international seminar on Nuclear Proliferation in the Middle East from 19-21 September at HMC. The seminar was organized jointly by HMC, the World Federation of Scientists and ARTIS Risk Analysis and Research. The group included experts from both scientific and social science disciplines from the US, UK, India, Iran, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

19-20 Sep 2013

Sulastri Osman attended the GR:EEN (Global Re-ordering: Evolution through European Networks) Annual Conference in Bruges 19-20 September 2013. She updated international partners involved in the GR:EEN research project regarding the recent CENS workshop on countering violent extremism that was organised in partnership with the University of Warwick under the GR:EEN Work Plan themed around human rights and security. She also chaired a conference panel on international organisations and agreements.

9-14 Sep 2013

Sulastri Osman participated in a seminar organised by the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT) in Kuala Lumpur 9-14 September 2013, where she presented on ongoing academic and policy debates surrounding current national security issues. The week-long seminar focused on the dynamics between youth and terrorism, and participants critically assessed the factors that could facilitate the involvement of youths in terrorism activities.

28 Feb 2013

CENS delegation comprising Kumar Ramakrishna, Sulastri Osman and Joseph Franco visited Austria and UK from 25 to 28 February for workshop participation and networking purposes.

Click here for more details.

25 Feb 2013

Kumar Ramakrishna was recently invited by the Australian government as one of the speakers who specialise in the field of radicalisation and extremism. Focusing on Southeast Asia, he gave a presentation outlining fresh approaches toward understanding and countering radicalisation and violent extremism.

17 Feb 2013

Kumar Ramakrishnaand Sulastri Osman attended the International Conference on Engaging Partners for Capacity Building: United Nations’ Collaboration with Counter-Terrorism Centres, a high-level meeting organised by the United Nations Centre for Counter-Terrorism (UNCCT) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on 16 and 17 February 2013.

Click here for more details.

28 Sept 2012

Kumar Ramakrishna and Sulastri Osman attended the Australian Research Council Linkage Project on Radicalization in Australia 2012 Conference, entitled Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism in Australia and Indonesia: 10 years after Bali, Melbourne (26-28 September 2012). They spoke on the topic of The Evolving Terrorist Threat in Indonesia from a Complexity Perspective and Notes from the Field, respectively. They were both invited to speak by the well-respected Global Terrorism Research Centre of Monash University. Both presentations were well-received by the audience made up of Australian academics and national security practitioners, as well as leading terrorism specialists from Southeast Asia and Europe.

In addition, as part of the International Speakers Program organized by the Attorney-General’s Department of the Australian Government, Kumar Ramakrishna gave a seminar on Fresh Approaches to Understanding and Countering Evolving Terrorist Threats in Canberra, 25 September 2012.  Sulastri Osman was part of a roundtable session that discussed current and future trends of extremism in Indonesia at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra on 25 September 2012 as well.

26 Sept 2012

Kumar Ramakrishna was interviewed on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation News 24-Hour Channel on 26 September 2012 in Melbourne for his views concerning the state of the terrorist threat in Indonesia in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the Bali bombings. He made the point that while a lot has been done on the law enforcement front in the decade since the attacks, the struggle against the violent extremist ideology that sustains the violent Islamist threat to Indonesia and the region remains a work in progress.

17 Sept 2012

Between 10-17 September, a CENS team comprising Kumar Ramakrishna, Senol Yilmaz, Joseph Franco and Jennifer Yang Hui, visited a number of leading think tanks and university research institutions, and government departments in Berlin, Paris, The Hague, Oslo and London.

Click here for more details.

30 Aug 2012

Kumar Ramakrishna speaks at a workshop on Countering Violent Extremism organised by SEARCCT (MFA, Malaysia).

Click here for more details.

21 May 2012

Kumar Ramakrishna book, Radical Pathways: Understanding Muslim Radicalization in Indonesia (Westport, CT: Praeger Security International, 2009), was featured as one of the top 150 books on terrorism and counterterrorism in an article published in Perspectives of Terrorism, Vol 6 No 2 (2012). Titled as Terrorism Bookshelf: Top 150 Books on Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism, the article was written by Dr Joshua Sinai who is an Associate Professor at the Center for Technology, Security, and Policy (CTSP) in Virginia Tech. Dr Sinai also reviews the latest books on terrorism for The Washington Times. In the said article, he introduced Associate Professor Ramakrishna as “one of Southeast Asia’s leading counterterrorism experts” and reviewed his book as “an important and insightful case study on the pathways to extremism and violent jihad in Indonesia”.

11 May 2011

Bilveer Singh, Kumar Ramakrishna and Sulastri Osman presented separately at the Symposium on the Dynamics of Youth and Terrorism organized by the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counterterrorism (SEARCCT), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Malaysia) which was held 8-11 May 2011 in Kuala Lumpur. Singh spoke on the challenges of self-radicalization among youths; Ramakrishna gave a multidisciplinary perspective on the topic of youth and violent radicalization; and Osman on the issue of, and the problems with, radicalization over the internet from the Singapore perspective.

15 Apr 2011

Yolanda Chin and Norman Vasu, spoke on 15 April 2011 at a Community Engagement Programme (CEP) forum organized by the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts (MICA). The forum involving policy-makers and community leaders discussed matters pertaining to inter-racial and inter-religious relations in Singapore.

28 Mar 2011

Kumar Ramakrishna speaks at Religious Radicalization Seminar.

Click here for more details.

18 Mar 2011

Bilveer Singh presents a paper titled Resilience, Critical Infrastructure Protection and Crisis Management: A Perspective from Singapore in the Public Governance Forum organised by Fo Guang University, Taiwan.

Click here for more details.

1 Dec 2010

Review of CENS Activities 2010.

Click here to view the review of CENS activities in 2010.

2 Nov 2010

Kumar Ramakrishna delivers a presentation on Transnational Terrorism and Self-Radicalization in SAFTI on 2 November 2010.

Click here for more details.

23 Jul 2010

3rd APPSNO Reunion Gathering cum Learning Journey

Click here to view the review.

Click here to view the review of CENS activities in 2009.

22 May 2008

Kumar Ramakrishna’s presentation at Homeland Security Policy Institute on The Role of Propaganda in the Malayan Emergency (1948-60): ‘Lessons’ for Countering Terrorism Today?

Click here for Kumar Ramakrishna’s presentation slides.